January 2005
I've just tried to start SWMBO's Yaris which has been garaged for the last 3 weeks while we were away over the Xmas/NY break.
It started albeit momentarily then died (I didn't use the throttle) and now though the engine turns over with what seems to be enough vigour to start, the engine simply refuses to start.
Am I missing something obvious - I don't want to call the RAC man unless it's absolutely necessary....
TIA. Read more
A month ago my N reg Micra was involved in a prang. As I had only 3rd party insurance, to keep repair costs down I bought a replacement wing, headlamp and bumper from a scrapyard. I then got the parts fitted at short notice by an el-cheapo, back street, "cash only" motor repair/scrap yard.
All was well until, depending on the weather, the driver door began to scrape the newly-fitted wing when at the extent of its opening travel. Paint was eventually being scraped off the door at the wing-side edge.
I tried to fix this by loosening/tightening the nut fastening the wing panel, and bashing in the wing slightly with my palm, with no success. Until this morning.
Aah, Eureka, I thought! "The contact twixt door and wing panel is only very slight. Obviously it needs just a millimetre or so gap opening up. A miss is as good as a mile."
I took a piece of thin card, folded it a couple of times. Popped it in the gap between the door and wing panel. And slammed the door.
The wing panel did not "budge over" as I expected. The door edge did not "budge back" a millimeter as I expected.
Instead, the door skin bowed out at the wing-side, making the hinges visible when closed.
And on opening the door just a quarter of the way, the door starts to scrape the wing panel. Getting in the car involves the door crunching into the wing panel, slicing into it like a can opener. In fact the door will only open half-way.
Doh! My first task is to flatten the bow in the door panel back a bit. It won't go back by hand, by knee or by kicking it. I guess a rubber mallet is the right tool for this, but I don't have one.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Mike Read more
Thanks, I'll look into the "unbolt and shift" option before I resort to bashing panels about.
I still can't believe a folded piece of card can cause so much damage! Demonstrates the power of a lever, I guess. I think it may have opened up the hinge slightly...there is a big gap/misalignment between door and wing panel and the door is cutting into the wing every time I get in the car.
Mike
Anyone know where the engine control unit on an S80 is located?
I've looked in the engine bay, in the passenger compartment and
in the boot but can't find it anywhere.
Thanks for any help. Read more
IIRC the ECM is located on the offside front inner wing between the washer bottle and the coolant header. It may be under a large cover.
I'm trying to find top dead center on the crankshaft.
I went step by step on the haynes manual by removing the crankshaft cover under the car and searched for 30min looking for the markings :(
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I bought one in early 70`s. I found very fiddly.give up using because I could do the adjustment faster without..My point was in a workshop that has all equipment. it wont take a minute or ten to correct..
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Steve
Hiya, got to fit some new sills onto my 1992 mini. Does anyone know of any way I can help to preserve them so its a good few years before I must replace them again?
Also got to replace one of the front wings at sometime in the near future, so the same applies to that too.
I have heard about rust inhibitors (think thats the right word) but not a clue what to do with them, best ones to choose etc.
Thanks
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Excellent, thanks for the info. Looks like my weekend will be a busy one!!!
Is it true that from the 14th of this month, motor traders will not be able to sell warranties or help set up the motor insurance for there clients as they will need to be Financial Services Authority registered?
Tried to check on the FSA site, but it is like swimming through treacle..................surprisingly! Read more
I bought an M3 from a small trader and the engine went. 10K plus to sort. BMW warranty paid as it was a newish car.
If you have a 4 year old M3 and the engine gives and the trader could not give a warranty, what are the chances of him having 10K to do the repair for example?
The above would wipe him out business wise more than likely.
I see trouble ahead. From a traders point of view the risk is greater than the reward and he cannot (as far as I understand it...stand to be corrected), hide behind sold as seen anymore.
Hi first time contribution here, so please bear with me.
Im thinking of buying the new A6 2.0TDI. I gather that the 2.4 petrol is a bit thirsty and the 3.0TDI is crazy money(In Ireland anyway!). My question is has anyone experience of the A6 and do they find it underpowered. I have heard that the E200 Kompresser which is effectively a 1.8 is underpowered. Any advice or feedback would be great.
Thanks
John
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Again thanks all, Just have to take it for another test drive. This time I will take a couple of the Munster Rugby panel rugby players with me to laod it down and see how it preforms.
However as for the car being ugly, dont think so.
Regards
John
The DC012 (6) CD changer on my "new" Landcruiser seems to have packed up, it never really worked that well since I've had the car - about a month now;
Initially when the magazine was loaded it would only play CD1 and when that ended would repeat CD1 (and no, the "repeat" function wasn't on). Then it would sometimes (actually only once) play CD2 but after switching off/on, it was back to looping CD1 again.
It gets worse - a few days ago I ejected the mag but without me noticing at the time, it ejected but with CD1 still left in the changer. I then unwittingly reloaded a full mag and after that it wont play any CDs, the head unit (Philips DC712) shows "CD ERROR" and now the mag wont even eject - the "eject" button light flashes but nothing happens.
What's the best way to remove the mag and also extract the CD that the changer seems to have eaten?
Is there anything I could do to check the loading mechanism?
Also could the head unit/controller be sending the changer faulty signals (it uses D2B standard)?
The options as I see them;
1). Source a used DC012 unit from ebay (there's one there now) and simply replace the faulty unit and hope it works.
2). Replace the complete system with a new head unit and changer or even just a CD/MP3 head unit.
Option may be cheaper and hassle free in the long run...... ironically my '94MY Omega has the same Philips DC012 changer as standard and I've never had any problems with it over the years.
TIA.
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I have just been given one of these & a Philips SC804 head unit
Where in your Omega was the autochanger mounted (I have an Estate)?
Was the wiring loom already in the car?
If not any idea where I could obtain one?
Ian
Problem in morning over last 2 or 3 months..[colder/damper weather?]. Starts up fine. Then engine revs drop and then increase repeatedly [with foot in fixed position on accelerator]. Soon lots of white smoke pouring out of exhaust. If i take foot off accelerator engine will stall. As engine approaches normal temperature starts to get better. Suddenly exhaust stops smoking and car ok. On two occasions these symptoms more serious and smell of something getting very hot at rear of engine on passenger side...smoke starts to come from this location of engine. The curious thing is that if i then stop the car and leave for 15 minutes or so and then try again car is fine!. During these 2 more serious problems there has been a muffled rattle as though the exhaust is loose [and from the exhaust location]..but not quite the same noise.
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Thanks Andrew. What you say sound good. what is 'sound insulation'?. Could other damage already be done?
Brian
I know that most optional extras don't increase the value of a second hand car (vs one without extras) and also not having the 'right' options can also make it very difficult to sell a car (ie a BMW X5 with no leather).
What about options such as semi automatic transmission though? For example I'm interested in the new golf GTI which has the option of a DSG gearbox (cost £1.5k). Am I likely to lose this full £1.5k after three years or will I get a proportion back? I'd really like this gearbox, but don't fancy losing an extra £1.5k in depreciation for having it.
Any thoughts? Read more
Extras like leather might not add a great deal of value, but they are nice to have whilst you own the car and definitely make it a more attractive proposition when you come to sell - most would-be buyers will go for a car with a good spec over one with a poor spec every time. That said, if you are buying new, some extras cost far too much.
Browse
I don't think it will make any difference that it's been sitting for 24 hours, but presumably it won't do any harm to try starting it normally first, and then try the flood procedure if it's still not working.
BTW If you don't have access to the instruction manual let me know and I'll post the relevant section.